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A team of internationally renowned experts has been awarded nearly $9 million to research how best to lift New Zealand's geo-physical skirts and discover what's underneath.
The "Underground Eye" project will eventually provide a three-dimensional view of New Zealand's underground.
That could help lead to discoveries of, among others, reserves of geothermal and fossil fuel resources.
It would also help in the monitoring of faults and volcanic fields for signs of "impending events", project leader Professor Peter Malin of Auckland University said.
Previously at Duke University in North Carolina, USA, Professor Malin will be joined by a team of international researchers to continue the project.
New Zealand is a "very exciting place for geo-physical activity", he said, and the project would help assess how human activities impacted on that activity. "It's incredibly important."
But the "single most important thing" was the research's potential to lower the amount spent drilling exploratory bore holes, he said.
Exploratory bore holes for oil cost US$16-$30 million ($20-$37 million) to drill, he said. Geothermal holes cost US$4-$8 million.
By gathering better information on New Zealand's geo-physical landscape, fewer exploratory holes would need to drilled, saving vast sums of money, he said.
Project founder and Auckland University dean of science Professor Richard Bellamy said the project was the university's attempt to "start relating our earth sciences to the outside world".
